1. Field
An example embodiment relates to an apparatus for picking semiconductor devices and method of picking semiconductor devices using the same, and more particularly, to a picking apparatus for picking semiconductor devices by vacuum sucking and a method using this picking apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A picker assembly has been widely used in semiconductor industries for picking and sorting semiconductor chips and packages. For example, the picker assembly picks up the semiconductor chips from a chip carrier and transfers the picked chips to a circuit board for a packaging process. In addition, the picker assembly also picks up the semiconductor package and transfers the picked semiconductor packages into a test tray for an electrical test process using a test handler or a recovery tray according to the test results.
In a conventional picker apparatus, the semiconductor chips in the chip carrier or the semiconductor device in a customer tray for the test handler are individually picked up and are transferred into the circuit board or the test tray of the test handler by the picker assembly. In such a case, since the arrangements of the chips or the packages in the chip carrier and the customer tray are generally different from those of the circuit board and the test tray, the configurations of the picker assembly are firstly adjusted or controlled in accordance with the arrangements of the target to/from which the picker assembly is conducted. Then, the picker assembly moves downwards for picking up the chips or the packages or mounting/inserting the picked chips or the packages.
When the picker assembly reaches the semiconductor chips or devices in picking or inserting/mounting, an overload may be applied to some of the chips by the picker assembly and may cause unexpected damages to the chips. For example, since the picker assembly moves downwards for picking or inserting/mounting the chips, an uneven level of the tray may usually cause the overload to the chips that is arranged at a relatively higher position in the tray. Thus, the overload to some of the chips in the tray usually causes the chip damage and deteriorates the yield of semiconductor devices.